Diamond in the Rough
by RubyFiamma
Summary: [KagaAo][AU] Aomine works for the Nakajima group, a well known and influential organisation in Kusaka. He's given a job he's warned will be difficult but soon finds himself in over his head. He finds camaraderie in an unsuspected ally as he uncovers the twisted truth behind Nakajima's secrets all while trying to survive the bounty that's been put out on his head.


**Diamond in the Rough**

Finally uploading - omg, I'm sorry this took so long.

The fic will contain some pretty heavy stuff, so just heed the warnings in the tags. I'll put warnings before each chapter as I deem necessary, so don't worry!

**[Pairings] **Kagami Taiga/Aomine Daiki {yes, it's KagaAo not AoKaga.} Impled Kise/OC relationships, implied Kuroko/Momoi; other relationships may appear later on.

**[Fandom]** Kuroko no Basuke

**[Rating]** R18  
><strong>[Warnings]<strong> Character death, graphic depictions of violence, smut, angst, torture. Yakuza/Edo period in modern setting a/u. May have triggers.  
><strong>[<strong>**Disclaimer]** I don't own Kuroko no Basuke, because I'd turn it into this kind of trash. Better I just stick to fanfiction. All rights belong to Tadatoshi Fujimaki and other respectives. The OC's and fictional cities however, belong to me. The towns/prefectures/names mentioned in this fic are** purely fictional** and in no way to they relate to any non-fictional references. The "Mai-chan" mentioned is also fictional {_mine_} and is in no relation to the actual model, "Mai-chan".  
><strong>[Notes]<strong> This is an a/u where Aomine is yakuza, Kagami's identity is yet to be revealed. The period is modern times with Edo period references {because I really, really love them} and they're older than they're current canon characters but you can gauge your own. The tag also says character death, but it isn't Kagami or Aomine, so don't worry about that.

Gifted to my KagaAo trash lovin' babe, Jenny. Miss you girlie - but look, I did it!

Beauty and the Beast

* * *

><p>Aomine Daiki lies on his stomach on a blanket covering the hard bamboo floor, nose pressed into a leather cushion. It's got a familiar smell, like the orange and black basketballs he used to play with on the street courts in his district when he was just a kid. He inhales deeply for a taste of nostalgia but this isn't the scent he's looking for; no, this scent is mixed in with petroleum jelly and antiseptic with sharp tones of stale cigarette smoke, sweat and bad decisions.<p>

He closes his eyes slowly and listens to the faint sound of skin slicing, he can convince himself that they annoying chatter from the next room might sound like cicadas on a balmy summer evening, but it's too cold in the room for that. He takes another deep breath and the murmurs become nothing but a distant drone ringing in his ears.

He feels the latex-clad hand against his bare back, pressing against his shoulder blade followed by the insistent pricking of the needles. He smiles and grits his teeth for just a moment until the initial sting has left him and focuses on the row of half-naked pin-up models glued to the filthy wall in front of him. His favourite gravure model, Mai-chan, is centred in the middle in a most favourable lewd pose.

Aomine thinks he can bear with the boring hours ahead of him as long as he's able to look at Mai-chan with her huge tits; nipples covered only by shiny gold tassels and her matching g-string swimsuit bottom covering that sparse triangular patch of hair Aomine _knows_ is there. Her head is tilted to the side with cappuccino coloured lips in a seductive smirk, the tip of her index finger caught between her teeth. Her legs are spread suggestively and her other hand she has clutching a fistful of her chestnut brown hair. It's one of her more lucrative pinups and though she looks fucking raw and hot, Aomine much rather the real thing and the look Mai-chan gets in her eyes doesn't reflect a look like she's desperate and just any dick will do.

The dragging fire continues in his shoulder blade and it makes him drool a little. The sensation of the needle blazing across his flesh and Mai-chan's perfectly flawless body right in front of him has a heat brewing in the pit of his stomach. Aomine has to look away from Mai-chan for just a minute because he can't go getting hard in a place like this, even though he knows it's not all that uncommon. The other guys in this run down establishment won't think to highly of him walking around sporting an erection.

_Honestly, who gets a _ _hard-on_ _ when they're getting a tattoo?_

Aomine snorts. He knows that it probably has more to do with the slight sado-masochistic nature to his personality and the fact of well, Mai-chan is fucking sexy and being who Aomine was meant one had a lot of connections that could get one a lot of perks. He knows what Mai-chan tastes like, what she smells like; he knows she's got a beauty mark on the small of her back just above her left buttock. He's not in _love_ with Mai-chan, Aomine doesn't love anyone but himself, but he is in love with how debauched and wanton she can look when she's sprawled out underneath him or on her knees begging for more. Having sensory triggers for the memories don't help in easing the strain of his cock.

He takes to thinking about basketball, because even though that is one of his passions, it doesn't make him hard. And as of lately, it's kind of depressing and boring. Now that he's an adult; now that all his friends and family have grown, they don't care for the sport. Their family business is to be taken seriously and no one has time for basketball, so he doesn't play anymore. And just as he'd hoped it would, the empty feeling associated with his favourite sport makes him go flaccid. He breathes a sigh of relief and tries reciting Japanese proverbs in his head to keep himself distracted from the soft core porn written all over the walls.

A few more hours pass and by now, Aomine's back is numb and bloody but nonetheless inked. This tattoo has been a long time in the making since he insisted on the traditional _irezumi_ as opposed to the modern Western style of tattooing. It isn't required of the members in his group, Aomine just loves the pain. It gives him a crazy rush and shudder and he relishes in the burn. He's already got his arms and shoulders inked and his chest is next. He's been coming to this place since he was seventeen and the process has been long and painful, but Aomine handled it like a champ. It helps that everyone in the family is either awestruck or envious of him because of it; helps inflate his already too big of an ego because all the other punks hired by his group are fucking pussies and he is _the __best _at what he does and getting traditional tattoos just takes the cake.

Aomine checks his back in the mirror and smirks at the ink spread across his back. His natural dark skin contrasted the pale pink of the sakura blossoms he has peppering his shoulder blade and the white lotus flowers that float through a stream underneath the panther across the small of Aomine's back. The large black cat is centered in the middle of his back with yellow-green eyes that nearly glisten; life-like in the dim light of the tattoo parlour. The fierce snarl on the panther's face was one the mirrored his own. It looked realistic, yet so ancient; like an oil painting hung on a wall in a museum.

Nodding appreciation to the tattoo artist, he throws his shirt on over the plastic wrap that covers his tattoo and lights up a cigarette. He walks out of the parlor into the balmy night air and exhales a long plume of grey smoke. Japan is nice in the summer, but it gets too hot during the day and Aomine rarely leaves his house before dusk. He takes a glance up at the sky that's the same colour of his eyes and appreciates the way it's blanketed in a vast amount of sparkling stars. It's not often he pays attention to things like this, but in a world as ugly as the one he lives in, sometimes he has to stop and appreciate the little things that can make it beautiful.

He begins his walk towards home, glad that tonight he doesn't have anything to do. The work he does can get rather troublesome.

"Dai-chan! Dai-chan!"

The high pitched shout comes from behind and he doesn't even have to turn to know who it is. He does anyways, because even though she's annoying, she's his best friend. Has been ever since she was born.

"Satsuki," he groans. "Why are you out alone at this time of night, you idiot? You lookin' to get raped?"

Momoi Satsuki, one year younger than her cousin, stops mid-jog and pouts. "Dai-chan! Quit saying things like that!"

Aomine rolls his eyes and offers his arm out for his younger cousin to take hold of. "What are you doing out here?"

"Well, Uncle said you had gone out for another tattoo. Did you get it finished? Lemme see!"

Aomine looks down at her incredulously. "You came out here just for that? Are you stupid? Were you dropped on your head too many times?"

Momoi snuggles into his arm. "Dai-chan would protect me, wouldn't he?"

"Tch, honestly..."

They continue their walk without speaking much, Aomine puffing away on his cigarette. He would absolutely protect Satsuki, with his life. Not only is she a woman, but she's his best friend and his family. He's always protected her, ever since they were old enough to be out on their own.

Momoi is a very pretty woman. Her hair is long and lustrous, the colour of cotton candy. Her eyes are the colour of fully bloomed azaleas in the spring. She's always been a fast bloomer, nothing like the flowers her eyes are compared to, which often resulted in her getting harassed by boys and hated on by girls. Aomine was always there to protect her from bullies and women that tried to hurt her in any way possible. The people in this town weren't nice. This wasn't a safe place to live, but it's not like either of them could have chosen the hand of cards they had been dealt.

They lived the Kusaka district, a long since abandoned city by the modern way of things. Here, the way of life was much like the Edo period; where the city was ruled by yakuza and it's red light districts and there were no laws regarding old and outdated wannabe samurai from carrying around long katanas and wakizashi. Don't misunderstand, the city was divided by people wanting to transition into the modern world except with no one to care enough to help govern the people of Kusaka away from their obsolete way of living, there was no way they'd ever leave this immoral and barbaric lifestyle.

Here the boys are trained to be swordsmen or yakuza and the girls are raised to be hostesses, courtesan or wives of yakuza. They have little status in the Kusaka district, but that doesn't mean they're not respected. The women here are worth as much as currency and are used as such. Courtesan in the Akai Tsukinoyo district are respected more than the wives of yakuza and sometimes actual members. Aomine knows this well, as he's often sent there to patrol.

Aomine steals a glance at the top of Momoi's pink head and heaves a sigh. He once saved her from the life of a courtesan; at least, that's the way he comes to terms with what he had done.

Her parents were dysfunctional people. Her mother was a courtesan herself but she betrayed her housemother and breaking code will get you punished. In this case, Momoi's mother had gotten pregnant by a man who was already married; Aomine's uncle. She had been seeing him outside the _ochaya_ and that wasn't allowed, because the courtesan here were not ordinary prostitutes, they were respectable working class women that provided an entertainment service for Kusaka's high class clientele such as CEOs of reputable companies, high ranking members of negotiating yakuza companies and politicians. Carrying on a sexual relationship with a customer outside of work was seen as mere prostitution and that made a woman disgraceful and dirty and no longer valuable.

Her housemother scarred her face so that she'd never be seen as beautiful again, that was a customary fate for _tainted _women in Akai Tsukinoyo. She was then forced to live on the streets, young and pregnant and resenting the world because the one man she thought she could trust wasn't about to leave his wife for a woman that no longer held any class.

Aomine's uncle was yakuza, but nothing more than a foot soldier, therefore seen as low class in the eyes of anyone else. He was a rebel and foul mouthed anyways, and treated the women he was with poorly, including his wife. However he kept tabs on the woman, Momoi's mother, and found she was doing drugs and trying to cause herself to have a miscarriage; rid herself of the _abomination _she carried in her womb. He took her in and once she gave birth on a dreary day in May, Aomine's uncle had her pathetic life snuffed out. He raised Satsuki with his wife as _their _child, who treated her badly behind closed doors. Aomine was around her age but he never knew about any of the abuse because Satsuki was always so happy; he had been completely oblivious.

It was when they both were in their teens, Satsuki at the ripe age of sixteen; with a large bosom and tiny waist; large round eyes and gorgeous hair; that her father decided to sell her out to the brothels. Because that's what low class yakuza like Aomine's uncle did. Sold their daughters to the highest bidders; sometimes Mamas from different tea houses, sometimes other yakuza and sometimes they were sold to old perverted men that wanted a dirty little secret they could keep locked away and damned if Aomine was going to let that happen.

When Aomine found out, he stormed into his father's quarters and demanded he talk some sense into his brother but his father refused. It against code to interfere with the company's personal lives unless they were doing something harmful to the family. Turning Satsuki into a prostitute was _beneficial _his father had said; in the eyes of his brother. With overwhelming rage boiling hot within his blood, Aomine crashed into his uncle's home with guns blazing and temper flaring. They brawled till the death and Aomine was suddenly taking another man's life with his bare hands.

Killing a family member without reason - or a _sensible _reason - is enough to warrant a death penalty. However, Aomine was lucky. His father was a high ranked member within the company and after an investigation, it turned out Aomine's uncle was a rat and he was later praised for his kill. His father hid the underlying reason for his uncle's death under that as a cover up. No one but Satuski and Aomine's father know the real truth. His uncle's wife later committed suicide because she couldn't bear the shame she suffered after her husband's death.

Since then, Aomine has vowed to always be there for Satsuki; to take responsibility for her, because someone who's had such a torturous life and still remain a bubbly and exuberant presence needs to be protected. She's one of the rare rays of sunshine that this ugly world has yet to snuff out; a beauty among beasts.

"Dai-chan," Momoi begins tentatively, breaking Aomine's trail of thought. "How much longer do you think you're going to be... in this line of work?"

He looks down at her in bewilderment. "Huh?"

Momoi raises her head, her bright eyes a little sorrowful. It's a rare look for her, so Aomine knows to take it seriously. "You know, what you do... For uncle, and the company. I worry a lot when you're sent out and worry more when you come home injured. Isn't there something else you can do?"

"Like what?"

Momoi lets out a breath and looks up at the night sky. "I don't know... something less... dangerous."

Aomine smiles and unhooks his arm to pat Momoi on the head. "Satsuki... what I do is something I'm _good _at. It's bothersome at times but, I've never gotten into a situation where I didn't always have the upper hand. I'm gonna get injured, it's a part of the job. But ain't nobody gonna get the drop on me. I'm too good for that."

"I know," Momoi says quietly. "I just... worry. Without you I... I won't have anyone."

"Tch, stupid. Don't go thinking such depressing thoughts! How many times have I told you? The only one who can beat me -"

"Is me," she finishes. Smiling, she says, "I know."

"Well then, whaddaya worried for, ya idiot?"

Momoi gave a laugh that reminded Aomine of resounding tinkling crystal. "I guess nothing then, Dai-chan."

But Aomine can't help but think of the beast that lurks within.

* * *

><p>It was late afternoon when Aomine wakes after his mother so crudely bangs on his door to remind him that he's a lazy piece of trash and that she's cooking and he'd <em>better <em>_get __his __ass __to __the __table __or __els_e. He wondered how his father ever found that woman attractive with the foul shit that came out of her mouth. They were the same type of mannerisms that he himself had inherited, so he couldn't actually complain _much_.

Sauntering out of his bedroom while scratching his naked chest and his head at the same time, Aomine recalled the conversation he and Satsuki had the night before. He's never really put much thought into what he does for a living because it's the norm here. No one makes mention of the things he does because it's not something that's judged but rather praised. And really, he's never put much thought into it being a dangerous thing. Yes, he knows it comes with it's downfalls but that isn't to say that life itself was safe. You could get mugged and shanked in the middle of the night and die in front of a bunch of people that wouldn't whisper a word about your death. You could get hit by a car and dragged for miles and not one person would signal the bastard to pull over and the bastard himself would continue driving, like trailing along a dead body wasn't something to be concerned about. You could get drunk and or high off the high grade opium that his company sells to thugs and wannabe gangsters and overdose, lay dead in a pool of your own vomit if choking on it wasn't what killed you in the first place. No matter what, death was around every corner in the Kusaka district; it was all just a matter of when and where and how. With Aomine's talent he's most definitely shortened his life span, accompany that with his bad habit of smoking, being part of the yakuza and having a real bad fucking attitude and Aomine wasn't looking towards a very long and happy future anyways. It wasn't as if he wanted to die young and that his life held no meaning, he's just accepted that he isn't going to make it out of Kusaka alive and somehow, he's okay with that.

"What do ya want?" he drawls out in a lazy yawn when he greets his mother in the kitchen.

She turns and her eyes widen and turns around again, only to fling a spatula at him. It hits him square in the chest and he can feel the heat from the frying pan still on it.

"Go put some clothes on, you lazy brat! This isn't your bachelor pad, it's a family home and there are women present! Show a little respect, dammit."

"Hmph... show _me _a little respect and not throw shit at me," Aomine mutters under his breath, picking up the spatula off the floor. "Ah look, you put a grease stain in the tatami mat."

"Shut up, you little bastard. Come eat."

Aomine smirks and throws the kitchenware into the sink. "Heh, three points."

"You're like a child," his mother complains. "When are you going to find a wife and grant me my freedom back, you nuisance?"

"Wow, Ma... Such love you have for your only son."

"If I didn't love you, I wouldn't put up with your bullshit, Daiki. Now hurry and eat. Your father is expecting you at his office in an hour." His mother shoves a plate of tamagoyaki and rice in front of him and it makes a loud clattering sound when it hits the table top.

Aomine loves his mother, despite her petulance and cantankerous attitude. He thinks if he had to put up with a son like himself, a husband like his father and the life she had to live, he'd be just like her. And well - he was, because she was his mother and she was who raised him.

"What does he want?" he asks with a mouthful of egg.

"It's not my place to talk your father's business, Daiki."

Aomine sighs. He hates surprises and more than likely, he's going to be given a hit today. It's usually the only time he goes to the office.

He finishes his food with minimal conversation and readies himself to make the trip down to the company's office. He's usually not the affectionate type but something tells him to kiss his mother goodbye and tell her that he loves her.

The air outside is hot and sticky, Aomine's glad he opted for a navy blue undershirt and thin denim shorts. He knows it isn't proper attire but that's because Aomine has to keep a certain appearance. He can't draw attention to himself as someone that works for his father's company. The people in this town all knew who his father was, but no one knew what Aomine _did__._ Save for a select few, of course.

Hands shoved deep into his pockets, Aomine approached his father's office building where he was met by his father's advisor, Imayoshi Shoichi. Aomine doesn't really like the guy, they're relatively the same age yet Imayoshi wormed his way to the top on intelligence and charm alone. Well, that isn't entirely true. He's seen Imayoshi get angry and it's not a typical anger. He will watch a member deal his own punishment known as _yubizume _with a smile on his face. Hell, Aomine knows Imayoshi would sit there with that eerie fucking grin spread across his face while someone committed _seppuku _right in front of him.

"Ah, Aomine. Good day for a walk, ain't it?" Imayoshi says politely, eyes squinted behind large black frames.

"Save the small talk, Imayoshi. I'm here to see my father."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. Right now he's busy with the manager of Kogane no Kamigami. He will see you shortly. So all we've got is time and small talk, Aomine." He tips his head so the black fringe covering his eyes falls to the side and the sunlight glares off his glasses.

"Well, that's a pain. I ain't got nothing to say to ya," Aomine chides, kicking a chunk of upturned cement from the cracked sidewalk in front of the Nakajima group's business quarters.

"Oh? Aren't you the least bit curious as ta what your father is doing with the manager of Akai Tsukinoyo's only host club?" Imayoshi leans against the brick wall and pulls out his pack of Seven Stars cigarettes, offering it to Aomine.

Aomine's features pinch tight into a scowl and ignores Imayoshi's gesture. "As my father's advisor, you should keep your mouth shut about the business he conducts, even if I am his son. I'm sure whatever he and -"

Imayoshi retracts his offering hand and lights a smoke from the crumpled package. "Do relax, Aomine. You don't think I'd actually tell you anything, did you?" He exhales and pushes the fringe back from his eyes. "You ought ta know me better than that."

"Tch. You're a real fucking nuisance, Imayoshi. Can we at least go inside? It's fuckin' hot out here, my balls are about to melt off."

Imayoshi takes another drag of his cigarette and adjusts the red tie he's wearing in contrast to his black suit and shirt. He looks Mafia, if anyone were to put thought into his manner of dress and Aomine thinks Imayoshi would play the perfect villain, he'd fit right in with the Mafia he's seen in American mob movies.

"I suppose we could wait inside. But, you shouldn't -"

"Aominicchi!"

Aomine turns in the direction of the saccharine voice and sees the tall blond exiting out of the double glass doors of the three story office building. His grin is wide and million dollar white and his entire face lights up when he makes his way out to where Aomine and Imayoshi stand.

"Kise," Aomine nods but he's nearly knocked on his ass when arms are thrown around him with too much weight for him to brace against heavy and unsuspecting. "H-hey! Get off me, you freak! This is _not _the place for you to touch me so freely like that! And what have I told you about calling me _Aominicchi__? _It's Aomine. _Ao-mine_."

"But Aominicchi! I haven't seen you in ages-ssu!" whines Kise, stepping back and frowning. His hands linger on Aomine's biceps and he squirms to get out of the blond's grasp.

"So you are friendly with the manager," Imayoshi says impishly. "I wasn't aware you swung that way, Aomine."

"Fuck you, Imayoshi." He most certainly does _not _swing that way. He and Kise's relationship has never been anything more than platonic.

"You should come by the club," Kise says, flashing a pearly white grin. "I'd make a lot of money off you, Aominicchi," he adds while using his forefinger to tip Aomine's face up to the sunlight for an exaggerated examination.

"Tch," Aomine spits, turning his head and taking a stumbling step back. "Fuck you too, Kise. I'm going up."

Imayoshi laughs while Kise pouts and Aomine just storms past the two, sputtering insults under his breath.

He and Kise Ryouta were friends all throughout high school, if you want to call the place they went to an actual _school__. _It was rather a hangout for delinquents, where the majority of the faculty were too afraid to even show up.

Kise wasn't very popular in school, generally because his blond hair, long lashes and cocky attitude got him into a lot of trouble with the gangs that terrorised the student body. Aomine wasn't popular because he too, had a really bad attitude, but he was asshole enough that people left him alone. The thing was with Kise, he was good at everything. He wasn't only stunningly beautiful; tall with effeminate features, pale skin and golden eyes but he was brilliant at sports, mainly basketball and would often beat the gang members in one -on-one games to win the court.

Being all around perfect made Kise a target for hate and just one day, Aomine had enough of seeing the idiot get bloodied and bruised just because he was _better _than the other douche bags that attended Teikou.

On the day he decided to throw a few hoops around after school had finished for the day, he had come to the broken courts behind the building to find Kise lying on the ground having the shit kicked out of him with blood splattering his face and mouth and already sporting a nasty purple shiner. There were five guys, all calling him _homo _and _gaijin _even though Kise was a Kusaka native and straight as far as Aomine knew.

Aomine just couldn't stand to see an unfair fight, he really didn't care about Kise, hadn't gave much thought to him other than thinking he'd be a decent opponent against in basketball. Essentially he interrupted, offered up some really sardonic and asinine remarks and succeeded in getting the entire gang's attention. Aomine's always been good with his fists, being trained to fight since he was little but he doesn't actually _like _to fight. Not only is it bothersome and requires too much energy, he just doesn't like unnecessary violence. Which is kind of ironic considering his line of work.

"Stop by the club and have a drink sometime, Aominichhi. I really miss you-ssu!" Kise calls out as Aomine enters the building.

He turns briefly to flip Kise off for saying shit like that and giving people weird impressions of him but Kise is giving Imayoshi a dirty look, narrowed eyes and the smile wiped from his face. He sees Imayoshi mouth something to Kise, but he isn't able to make out the words but whatever it was, it made Kise scowl and colour rise in his face. Angry Kise isn't something that anyone sees very often, Aomine's only ever seen him this angry a handful of times.

He jogs up the stairs and remembers their first meeting; that was the first time he had seen Kise make a face like that.

He had come in and valiantly saved Kise from the gang of thugs but five against one isn't exactly an easy feat. Aomine's pretty tall, so he has a bit of an advantage. Although Kise is nearly as tall as he is and that didn't seem to help him. Well then, maybe coupled with his ability to actually throw a punch, he'd have more of an advantage than Kise had.

He gets hit in the face and stomach a few times before he's smart enough to throw his arms up like a boxer's defensive stance and harden his abdominal muscles to decrease the impact of their hits. It's not enough because he's spending more time defending himself than_ act__ually _fighting and when he finally gets taken down on the ground, he's lost the upper hand. That is until he sees Kise stand, shaky on his legs but he's got this smug look of determination as he wipes the blood off his mouth with the back of his hand.

_"_ _Getting _ _a _ _little _ _carried _ _away_ _, _ _aren't _ _we_ _? _ _I'm _ _kinda _ _upset _ _you _ _guys _ _forgot _ _about _ _me_ _."_

When Aomine looks up and sees that look in Kise's eyes, his perception of the blond has completely changed. He's not just some ditsy, good looking guy but he has guts too. He never does find out why that day is the only day Kise chooses to fight back.

He reaches the third floor and he hasn't even broke a sweat. Okay, he is sweating a little but it's from the heat, not exertion. He prides himself in being the most athletic member of the Nakajima group with the exception of Imayoshi, maybe. The guy just isn't that active, he relies more on brains than his brawn.

He's greeted by two more of his father's associates, these ones are his bodyguards, Hasegawa and Yamada. He likes Hasegawa, the guy's a regular fuck up; hotheaded and chain smoking, he's always in shit with Yamada, who only speaks when spoken to unless it's to scold Hasegawa. Aomine doesn't personally have anything against Yamada, he just doesn't trust a guy that's as calm and collective as he is in this line of work. He's not the creepy, slithery type like Imayoshi - a guy Aomine would never trust with his life - but there's just something about him that gives Aomine the chills, something darker behind the façade, maybe.

"Aomine-san, your father is on a conference call. Please take a seat until he sends for you." Yamada gestures to the cheap plastic mould chairs outside his father's office and Aomine takes a seat without saying anything. Yamada is different than Imayoshi, and Aomine just doesn't fuck with him.

"Yo, Aomine," Hasegawa starts when he's sat down. "Did you catch the Knicks game last night?"

Aomine stretches and folds his hands behind his head. "Tch. They were garbage. The fucking Mavs wiped the floor with them. It was painful to watch."

"Yeah, I'd thought for sure the Knicks had it in the bag. I fucking lost out on three hundred bucks 'cause of that game."

"That'd because you're an idiot," Yamada cut in. "The boss told you stop gambling already. He's already had to put down two of your loan sharks and threaten one of your bookies. Keep causing trouble for the boss and he'll make you cut off another finger."

Aomine doesn't say anything about the fact that Yamada's stone face doesn't even move an inch with emotion or that he stands still like a statue stationed outside his father's office in an all black suit and tie, hands folded in front of him. Hasegawa frowns and pushes his sunglasses back on his nose and Aomine usually teases him about wearing sunglasses inside, because Hasegawa _always _wears his shades. Aomine hasn't ever seen what his eyes even look like. However, Aomine isn't in the teasing mood, especially not now after Yamada's brought up Hasegawa's many punishments. His eyes fall to the always bandaged hands of Hasegawa, whose got an entire pinky missing on each fist. He frowns and his stomach flops a little, wondering why Hasegawa never seems to learn his lesson.

"Haha, it's fine, it's fine!" Hasegawa protests. "This is money outta my pocket, and I already paid the bookie. It's just, ya know - the _Knicks._ I thought they'd win. Right, Aomine?"

Hasegawa really is an idiot. "Yeah, they shoulda won," he says nodding. "But I wouldn't have bet on them, they haven't been doing well this season. Anthony's out with a back injury, Bargnani and Early are both out indefinitely. You gotta take all things into consideration before makin' a bet. Just 'cause they're your favourite team don't mean they're worth shit," Aomine says, scratching the inside of his ear with his pinky.

"Ah, I see!" Hasegawa says enthusiastically. "So then how about tomorrow's game? The Mavs beat the Knicks this time, but they play the Raptors tomorrow and the Raptors -"

"Don't encourage him, Aomine-san," scolds Yamada.

Aomine threw his hands up defensively. "I ain't sayin' anything."

"But Aomine-kun," whines Hasegawa. "You know so much and if you just put that knowledge into your bets-"

"Heh. I don't bet," Aomine retorts. "I don't trust anythin' left up to fate."

"But technically it isn't fate," Hasegawa says carefully. "If you used what you know, plugged the information on the points spread-"

"Hasegawa, enough!" hisses Yamada and finally his hardened face breaks and he's scowling, spittle on his lips as he nearly lurches across the door frame to deck Hasegawa. He doesn't though, he retracts and smooths out his suit and breathes in sharply. Watching Hasegawa rile Yamada up because he's the only one that can pull that sort of reaction from him is oddly amusing to Aomine.

Hasegawa falls back, silent and colour flushes his face. Aomine's pretty sure under those sun glasses he'd be able to see tears in Hasegawa's eyes.

"I don't know why the boss has people like you or that freak Imayoshi working for him," Yamada mutters with distaste. Hasegawa doesn't respond and finally the door opens and Aomine's father steps out.

Yamada bows, and Hasegawa stiffens and then he too, is bowing clumsily.

"Boss."

"B-boss!"

Aomine isn't the typical run if the mill yakuza member or son for that matter. He lives and plays by his own rules despite having to work underneath someone who subsequently is his father _and _the _wakagashira _of the organisation. However, when his father has that steely look in his piercing cobalt eyes, Aomine knows this isn't the time to play spoiled.

Aomine stands and takes a short bow, barely noticeable and his father nods his approval. He turns to Yamada and grits his teeth.

"Get me detective Sakuragi from the NPA. If he declines a meeting then I want his head on a fucking platter."

Yamada nods curtly and pulls out his cell phone. "I'll have Tanaka get in touch with him right away."

"Come inside, Daiki," his father orders. He's definitely pissed about something and what's even more troubling is that he's asking to speak with Sakuragi, and even though he's on their payroll, he's still a cop.

Aomine follows his father into his office and Hasegawa looks at him and slides his finger across his throat in a comical manner to which Aomine gives him the finger before shutting the door.

"I know you've been out of commission for a while, ever since... the accident, but... I have a job for you," his father says, placing a manilla envelope on his desk.

Aomine hasn't actively worked since the accident. He doesn't want to talk about the accident.

He shrugs and takes the envelope. "I can do it," he insists, trying not to sound too eager. The truth is he's been getting bored of being with Satsuki all the time, and being with her sometimes also reminds him of the _accident _and he'd rather have something else to focus his attention on.

His father looks up and catches him with that icy glare. "Don't get too cocky, boy. It's because of your insolence that the accident happened in the first place."

_Don't __you __think __I __fucking __know __that__, __you __bastard__?! _his mind screams, but Aomine just nods. "Yes, sir."

"Your friend, Kise Ryouta - that host club manager, he's been threatened a few times by the manager of the local pachinko parlours. He wants to expand and says Kise's club is on his turf."

Aomine arched a long, navy brow. "His turf? Is Kusaka not Nakajima's turf? Does he even have a right to demand that?"

Aomine's father pulled an ivory pipe from a desk drawer and tapped it on the surface of the desk. "No, he doesn't have a right to demand anything. He's not even yakuza, but he's got ties with the Saitomo group from the Shibuki district. I'm not lookin' to start a turf war, but he's becoming a menace to my businesses."

"He's the owner of all those pachinko parlours on the strip?" asks Aomine skeptically, the strip being the long stretch of bars, host clubs and pachinko parlours lining the lone road in Akai Tsukinoyo, before you reach the tea houses.

"No," his father said as he lit the tabacco he had packed into the pipe. "He's just the bastard who runs them. I checked with _kumicho _and the Saitomo have owned those few buidlings since Kusaka was split between the two, before they moved out to the Shibuki district. Up till now, there hasn't been any reason to be forceful. The owner gives Nakajima royalties and everyone lives peacefully."

"So... I don't understand. Why is this guy harassing Kise if he's got no say in anything?"

"_Kaicho _says it's because the owner of the shops has fallen ill, and this guy - Haizaki Shougo - wants to take over and expand. He's tried getting approval from Saitomo, but they won't move in on our turf anymore. The only option he has left is to intimidate your host manager friend into leaving."

"But... it's not even Kise's club. We own it - I mean the Nakajima own it. How does he think threatening Kise would- oh. If Kise leaves, then what, he thinks he can come to you and ask to set up another pachinko place? What a fuckin' joke," Aomine snorts.

"No... I think he wants to run the host club, rake in the profits. He's becoming a nuisance in the tea houses as well. He's too touchy with the women and the house mothers are gettin' pissed but they can't touch him. They've already launched a complaint to the brothers," Aomine's father says as he exhales a long, gray plume of smoke.

"Is that why you were asking for Sakuragi? Because the Nakajima can't get involved?"

"That is a reason, but no. Sakuragi owes me a hundred fucking favours and I'm about to cash in on some. But that's got nothing to do with why I'm telling you this."

"Then why are you telling me this?"

"You know the host brat," his father says with a nonchalant shrug. "Protect him. And if Haizaki becomes too much trouble, he'll be all yours."

"Heh... that would look pretty obvious, don't you think, Father?"

"And that's what Sakuragi is for... but, until then, do the job I gave you - and don't fuck it up. You're lucky nothing happened to you after the accident. I had a lot of elders and younger brothers pissed off at me for a long time because you were let off so easily. I'm not going to be your father next time. I'll be your boss. And you'll owe me a finger. Or your life. You got that?"

Aomine swallowed thickly and nodded. "What... who's the target?"

"Everything you need to know is in that envelope. Conceal it well when you leave this office and you know how important it is for your silence on these matters, don't you?"

The temptation to roll his eyes is a difficult urge to suppress but Aomine manages. "Yes, sir."

"I mean it, not even a word to Kise. It's because-"

"I know!" Aomine shouts, and he instantly shuts his mouth and feels his face flush with heat. He's never raised his voice to his father, _especially _while in this office. It's disrespectful and a reason for punishment but Aomine can't help it. The memory of the accident is still raw and it burns every time his father mentions it - because he's the only one that Aomine wouldn't knock out _for _talking about it - and he blames himself, he knows it's his fault. He doesn't need to be reminded by his father every fucking time he sees him. "I- I'm sorry," he says slowly. They're hard words that have to be forced out of his mouth.

Aomine's father stares for a long time before setting his pipe on the table and sighing. "Look, Daiki. Sometimes I get the father role all wrong because I'm a different kind of father to all your brothers... but I understand. I know there's still pain there, but you've got to man up. This job is sensitive, unlike any one you've handled before. It isn't just a single, simple target. And if you mess up, it won't just cost a friend's life this time, but it could cost you yours -"

Aomine flinches and his mind starts to wander but he squeezes his eyes shut and tries real hard to focus on anything but that night a little less than a year ago.

_Mai-chan... sexy Mai-chan... Don't think anything other than Mai-chan... Tattoo parlour wall Mai-chan -_

"-and the family's. Do you understand, Daiki? I need you to be one hundred percent."

Aomine snaps his head up and anchors himself with the smooth feel of the envelope in his hand. He understands, he isn't going to get anyone involved this time. He can't. "Y-yes... I understand. I'm not going to mess up."

His father eyes him skeptically for a moment before he waves his hand dismissively. "Good. Now get the fuck outta my office."

Aomine's already out the door before his father can finish his sentence.


End file.
